Mexican miner Industrias Penoles' first quarter net profits were nearly flat at 1.019bn pesos (US$96.7mn) compared to 1.021bn pesos year-on-year, the company said in its quarterly results statement.

Despite higher average gold, silver and lead prices, Penoles' results were negatively impacted by lower zinc prices of nearly 30% year-on-year, while zinc mine production slipped 8.1% on lower grades and zinc metals refinement was down 6.8% due to a labor stoppage, the company said.

Increased prices for natural gas and metallurgical coke also impacted earnings, Penoles added.

Ebitda slipped 3.6% to 2.20bn pesos versus 2.29bn pesos in the year-ago period. However, net sales leapt 35.7% to 14.8bn pesos compared to 10.9bn pesos.

VOLUME

In the first quarter this year Penoles sold 511,216oz gold, a 20.8% increase; 29.2Moz silver, a 9.4% jump; 33,244t lead, a 5.2% drop; 48,055t zinc, an 11.3% slip; 1,192t copper, a 1.4% increase; 294t cadmium, an increase of 8.1%; and 236t bismuth, a drop of 27.6%, all year-over-year.

First quarter metals production for Penoles was up 10.8% for gold at 460,234oz, 1.9% for silver at 27.4Moz and 4.9% for lead at 35,788t. However output dropped 6.8% for zinc to 49,774t, 4.2% for copper to 1,879t, 11.2% for cadmium to 206t and 25.1% for bismuth to 234t, all year-on-year.

Earlier this month Penoles announced plans to spin off its precious metals business and transfer it to a recently incorporated subsidiary listed in the UK, Fresnillo plc.

Penoles has said it will retain 73.5-75% of the company after the initial public offering.